World Blitz Championship: Vaishali, Humpy brighten medal hopes; Arjun holds Carlsen

In the open section, 10th seed Arjun Erigaisi comfortably proved equal to Magnus Carlsen in the 12th round to reach 8.5 points. Placed 12th, this highest-rated Indian in the fray at 2765 won six games.

Published : Dec 30, 2021 19:12 IST

FILE PHOTO: Komeru Humpy, seeded three, will take on fifth seed and recently-crowned World rapid champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, having beaten her seventh seed Russian compatriot Aleksandra Goryachkina in the previous round.
FILE PHOTO: Komeru Humpy, seeded three, will take on fifth seed and recently-crowned World rapid champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, having beaten her seventh seed Russian compatriot Aleksandra Goryachkina in the previous round.
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FILE PHOTO: Komeru Humpy, seeded three, will take on fifth seed and recently-crowned World rapid champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, having beaten her seventh seed Russian compatriot Aleksandra Goryachkina in the previous round.

R. Vaishali and K. Humpy kept India's medal hopes alive by holding the second and the third spots after nine rounds of the Women's World blitz chess championship at Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday.

Riding a high of a four-win streak after upstaging former World champion Mariya Muzychuk, sixth seed Valentina Gunina and scoring over 2019 World junior girls champion Polina Shuvalova, 21st seed Vaishali (7.5 points) plays the surprise leader from Kazakhstan, Bibisara Assaubayeva (8).

Humpy, seeded three, will take on fifth seed and recently-crowned World rapid champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, having beaten her seventh seed Russian compatriot Aleksandra Goryachkina in the previous round.

READ: Indian Chess League to begin in June 2022

Seven rounds remain in the competition. Each player gets three minutes plus a two-second increment per move to finish the game. In the open section, 10th seed Arjun Erigaisi comfortably proved equal to Magnus Carlsen in the 12th round to reach 8.5 points. Placed 12th, this highest-rated Indian in the fray at 2765 won six games.

Levon Aronian, seeded 15, led with 10 points while favourite Carlsen was eighth with 8.5 points. Among the Indians, 20th seed Nihal Sarin was struggling at 7.5 points for the 35th spot and needed to pick up steam in the remaining nine rounds.

D. Gukesh, with a starting rank of 119, shook off a disappointing start of two wins and five losses in the first seven rounds to score 4.5 points from the next five.

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